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by seokjinthusiast (viktuuri_jpg)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Homophobia, M/M, it's not meant to be part of the main plot, the homophobia is by a side character, this isn't a cliche fic where lgbt characters can't exist w/o emotional/internal trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-04
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-09 06:16:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12270588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viktuuri_jpg/pseuds/seokjinthusiast
Summary: THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE PUBLISHED. THIS WAS GENUINELY POSTED BY ACCIDENT. THE END IS NOT EVEN THE END, OKAY. IT WAS CUT OFF MID SCENE. BUT I’LL LEAVE IT UP BECAUSE IT’S ALREADY GOTTEN KUDOS/BOOKMARKS. I’LL JUST CONTINUE AS IF IT’S CHAPTERED. I’M SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION. IT HAS A TITLE NOW. SORRY AGAIN.





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> Keith and Lance have been best friends pretty much all their lives. It seems like it takes them even longer to figure out they're in love.

It's hard to pinpoint, sometimes, the exact moment people fall in love. For Keith, realization dawned on him in a variety of ways. He'd known, maybe, since he was little. But the feeling was lost on the innocent and unknowing mind of a child. Lance was his best friend, the boy he'd grown up with, the boy he'd shared many memories with. Chasing each other on the playground, having sleepovers and eating candies till they made themselves sick, laughing at cartoons and drinking hot chocolate together. Keith had always known he loved Lance. It was always there. It just didn't hit him until much later.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Autumn can be felt in the air, cold and damp. Mist rolls over the ground and sticks to Keith's skin. His breath comes out in a puff of white fog in front of him. He licks his chapped lips and makes his way across his backyard, boots crunching in the dead orange leaves. Lance has been his next door neighbor since they were kids and he's doing what he always does on Friday afternoons after he finishes his homework; heads straight to Lance's house and lets himself in. Lance's family considers him family, and he actually has an extra key. 

Keith doesn't have to use the key often. Lance's bedroom is in the basement, and there's a door in the back of the house that goes directly to it. Lance usually leaves this door open for him. Keith hops the fence that divides the two houses, eyeing the bit of light from Lance's window. He doesn't know whether or not Lance is in there because he'd been too lazy to text, but it won't matter. He shoulders open the door, immediately getting hit with the smell of Lance.

Embarrassingly enough, Keith could pick out Lance's scent anywhere. He smells like the beach; like sand and saltwater and sunshine. Keith blames it on the beach-scented Yankee Candles scattered around Lance's room. Lance has a thing for candles. He toes off his boots and leaves them on the doormat next to Lance's beat up blue Converse. He hears the sound of music and footsteps from above.

Keith cranes his neck to look up at the ceiling. He can imagine dancing, tiny feet running back and forth in the kids' playroom. All of Lance's youngest siblings, along with his little nieces and nephews, are staying over for the weekend. Keith smiles to himself. Family is very important to Lance. Keith only has Shiro, but he's been a part of Lance's life for so long that he knows what it's like to be a part of a big family. 

There's an open comic book on Lance's bed and a still-cold glass of soda on the bedside table. Keith situates himself on the bed, putting the comic book on his lap and helping himself to the soda, and waits for Lance. There would be no point in texting Lance since Keith spots his phone plugged into the wall on the far side of the bed. 

Keith finishes the soda and the comic book by the time he hears Lance coming down the stairs. He looks up as the door opens, casually closing the comic book while Lance arches an eyebrow at him.

"Comfortable?" Lance asks, looking like he's trying not to smile. 

"Very," Keith answers, settling even further back into the pillows. 

Lance eyes something to Keith's left. "Did you drink my soda?"

Keith shrugs. "You were gone anyway. By the time you got back, it would've been flat."

"You've taken over everything," Lance sighs, stepping forward and sitting on the edge of the bed. Keith brings his legs up and rests them across Lance's lap. "Even me."

"You got that right." Keith grins, content and smug. 

Lance rests his hands on Keith's shins, warm and casual. "Are you going to take over my family, too? Hmm?"

Keith shrugs again. "They're really very nice. I don't know why I haven't considered it earlier."

Lance rolls his eyes. "You're impossible."

"Thank you." Keith sets the comic book down and just looks at Lance. "Have you finished the homework? I think I got some of it wrong."

"Yeah. But I think I did too." Lance frowns, brows furrowing. "That chapter was hard."

"We'll figure it out later." Keith replies. He takes a deep breath. "Let's do something fun."

"Like what?" Lance asks, blinking at Keith.

There's something in the air that neither of the boys can identify. Keith writes it off as being happy with his best friend. He doesn't feel like this with anyone else. But he doesn't question it. He doesn't think anything of the excitement making his heart race or the electricity being pulsed into his skin wherever Lance is touching him. Keith just licks his lips and says, probably anticlimactically, "anime?"

A slow smile makes Lance's lips curve upward. "Sure, man. I'll get my laptop."

///////////////////////////////////////////

They're tucked together in bed, a blanket over their shoulders and a blanket over their laps. The computer is settled between them, the screen showing a blue-haired Japanese teenager fight with a red-haired teenager. Keith loves this anime and is glad that Lance likes it too. That's why they're so compatible. They have so many common interests.

Keith can feel Lance's pulse, pressed so close against him. It feels like home. He sighs happily and thinks nothing of how Lance's hand is resting on Keith's thigh, thumb rubbing absent circles into the fabric of his black jeans. That's how they've been since they can remember. Close. 

Suddenly, the light is turned on, tearing them both out of their concentration. Keith looks up while Lance pauses the video. Lance's oldest sister is standing in his doorway, looking slightly irritated but also amused. "I had wondered why you weren't answering."

Lance tilts his head to the side, confused. The movement makes his temple hit Keith's, they're so close. His hair tickles Keith's skin. "What?"

"It's time for dinner. We've been calling you up for five minutes." She rolls her eyes, exasperated, and then turns her attention on Keith. "Hello, boy who lives here. Would you like to eat?"

At the thought of food, Keith's stomach rumbles. He bites his lip. "I am hungry."

"C'mon, then. The table's already set." Lance's sister whirls back around and walks out the door without closing it.

A silence rests comfortably between them, hearts synchronized. Lance turns his head to face Keith but doesn't move away. Lance's eyes are tired but soft. Keith breathes the air that comes from Lance, head feeling slightly fuzzy. "You'll stay over, right?"

Keith nods, barely noticing that it makes their lips edge closer together for a split second. "Of course." He finds himself whispering, somehow unconsciously matching Lance's low voice.

Lance brings up a hand, fitting it to Keith's face. He closes his eyes and just breathes for a few seconds, like he's gathering up strength.

"It's okay to want time alone." Keith says, immediately knowing exactly what's going on in Lance's mind. "You love them, yes. But everyone needs their own space." It's true that Lance has a big family. The first time Keith found out just how big, he was literally in shock. Sometimes, no matter how much you value family, it can be a bit overwhelming. Even Lance's beloved nieces and nephews can be too much. Lance's whole body is warm. Keith wants to stay here forever. Reluctantly, he pulls away. "Let's go eat."

As they disentangle from each other and rise from the bed, Lance takes Keith's hand and smiles softly. "Thank you."

///////////////////////////

Dinner is chaotic in a good way. The grown-ups talking over each other to be heard over the kids loud laughter and the clinking of cutlery. Keith is in the middle of Lance and his cousin, Alicia. She's their age but goes to the school one district over. Keith is in the middle of letting Lance steal food of off his plate when Alicia sets down her drink and looks at them.

"You two are so weird," she says to them, wiping at her mouth with a napkin.

Keith blinks over at her, used to Lance's family's teasing by now. He shrugs. "Thank you."

Alicia shakes her head. "No, I mean that you're _weird_. Two boys shouldn't be close like you two are. It's weird."

Lance almost drops his fork at that. He looks at her with a baffled expression. "What's with you? Who's teaching you that?"

With a sniff, Alicia raises her chin arrogantly. "No one. It's just the way things are."

The awkwardness makes Keith's skin prickle uncomfortably. He watches as Lance just simply nods and puts down his fork. "Keith, come with me." He gets to his feet. "We'll be right back," he tells his mother. Keith knows he's lying. He recognizes the guarded and closed off look on Lance's face. It's how he looks when he needs to get away but doesn't want anyone to know he's bothered.

Lance's mom just waves absently at him and continues her conversation with her brother.

Keith follows Lance through the kitchen and down the hallway to where the bathroom is. Lance locks them in and then sits on the edge of the bathtub, putting his hands in his face and breathing heavily. It comes out defeated and tired. Keith's heart almost breaks. He kneels in front of Lance and puts his hands on Lance's knees. "What can I do?"

"I didn't want to make a scene," Lance just says, not coming out from behind his hands. "Nobody likes when I argue. I couldn't. Not in front of the kids."

"That's understandable," Keith says, hopefully sounding supportive. He can't see Lance's face and it worries him that he doesn't know what expression he's making. If it's hurt or just plain upset. "Please look at me."

Lance sighs and lets his hands drop, placing them atop Keith's. He's red-eyed, like he's trying to stop from crying. Keith's throat hurts. "I'm so disappointed in her, Keith. I have no idea where that came from."

"It caught me off guard, too." Keith admits, frowning sadly. 

"I feel like I let too much slide for the sake of family," Lance confesses, lower lip wobbling. 

Keith licks his lips. "You don't have to do that, you know. They're not exempt from being called out on their bullshit just because they're family."

Keith's bluntness brings a small smile to Lance's face. It disappears quickly, though. "This whole family is just passive aggressive petty gossiping and lies. I never wanted to be a part of the drama. If I yell at one of my cousins, that whole side of the family will hate me forever. It'll be like this whole big feud. It's happened before."

Even in Lance's family, there's times where they can be mean to each other without thinking of the emotional consequences.

"You need to stand up for yourself. For your own mental health and safety," Keith says, meaning every word. "It's not good for you to feel like you're not accepted. If they can't change, then fuck 'em. There's nothing wrong with you. They're the problem."

Lance's hands are slightly shaky where they touch Keith's, but his face is set with determination now. Something like pride swells up in Keith. Lance nods. "You're right."

"You're damn right I am," Keith says, grinning. He gets a fond eye roll for his trouble.

TBC!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for any mistakes. I rushed through this one since I accidentally fucking posted it before it was even finished. 
> 
> find me on tumblr/twitter @actuallyklance


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